King's Gold
by PyewacketTheCat
Summary: It's no secret that the duo of the free spirited demon axe, Cardinal Goldwing, and her emotional dud of a Meister, Ellis King, couldn't be more different. But for some strange reason they work. This story follows them through their adventures in the Soul Eater Universe and their road to discover friendship truly is the strongest power. OC/Clay and OC/OC.
1. Blank eyes

Hi everyone, this is a story following my two OC's, the demon weapon Cardinal Goldwing and her Meister Ellis King. It starts during Soul Eater NOT! and will follow them through Soul Eater itself. The story will be very close to the plot at some parts and not so close in others, but the main idea of each arc will be the same. There will be a few other OC's added in here and there to make the story more interesting, and there will be some romance, mostly OC/Cannon. Anyways, feel free to review and what not. Thanks so much for reading!

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I run behind Ellis, feet slapping on the of the stone streets of Death City. I don't like transforming and being carried if I don't need to be. It makes me feel helpless, and I hate feeling helpless. Just the fact that I'm able to keep up with a Meister is a feat seeing how fit they are. It's a good thing I was trained to be one too, you know, before my parents figured out I was actually a weapon. My dad trained me to be able to hold my own with or without a weapon. I still remember their faces when I fell from that tree and my injured arm turned into a blade. They were surprised, but supportive. My mom tried to help me the best she could seeing as she is a weapon too, but she isn't a teacher. That's why she sent me to the DWMA.

The two of us run quickly, slipping between the narrow city pathways, in and out of the shadows that are cast on the dark streets by the grinning moon. There are no people out this late at night and I'm thankful for it. Following our orders would be a lot harder if there were. It's difficult enough finding people in this winding city, even in the day light. If people were out and about now it would be near impossible.

Ellis suddenly stops running and smack face first into his back. _What the? _I stumble backwards in surprise. "What are you doing?" I hiss, rubbing my newly sore nose. At least I'm not bleeding. That would really suck.

He doesn't even look back at me. "Cardinal, look."

I peak around his shoulder. _Oh_. I know why he stopped now. Carved into the side walk is a giant arrow pointing north, the direction we're headed. I grit my teeth. _That bastard is bating us_. Ellis and I exchange similar looks and I know we are thinking the same thing.

We can't let him get away.

Not this time.

"Where is he?" I ask. I can't tell. It's too dark, but I know Ellis can. He's my Meister, and he has the ability of Soul Perception. It allows him to sense people's souls and tell where they are without actually seeing them.

"He's up ahead." Ellis says blankly, and starts running again with me trailing behind. His voice is so monotone. It's the way he usually sounds, even when he's excited. In fact, I don't think he gets excited. I've known him for two years and I've never seen him crack anything more than a small smile. _Have I ever heard him laugh? I_ wonder. _No. I don't think I have._

Ellis launches himself on to a roof to the left of us and I follow his lead. That's what I do. The Meister leads and I follow, usually. As we approach Ellis reaches behind his back for me. I lean forward to get a good grip on his hand so he doesn't drop me, and transform. His back is bathed in bright red light for a few seconds, then the light fades and I am in his hands. He spins my Labrys form around, sliding me between his hands before he jumps from the roof.

He lands quietly behind our target, who's looking around like some sort of lost puppy. From what I can see the traitor is thin, with shaggy brown hair. His clothing is very plain, not the crazy, colorful things most traitors wear because they're trying to show off. I immediately notice that there's something else strange about him, something off. It's almost like he's mechanical. The man turns around and a chill runs through me.

I know what's so off now. "His eyes." I say, knowing Ellis will understand. I have never seen eyes so...so dead.

Ellis grips me with two hands and holds me out in front of him. He crouches slightly, feet spread apart for balance. He's ready for a fight. "I know. There's something wrong."

The traitors eyes stare at us lifelessly. I realize that he's not mechanical. Mechanical doesn't even cover it. He's like some sort of puppet being pulled by the strings. He moves like one too, swaying from side to side as he stands there. It's extremely disturbing. He takes a stiff step forward and I can feel Ellis tense.

"Did you sleep well last night?" The traitor asks.

Ellis ignores his question. "I'll give you one chance. Leave, now."

I smile to myself. _That's right Ellis. Show him you mean business._

The traitor doesn't even falter. I knit my eyebrows together in confusion. Most of the time they take one look at me and run away with their tails between their legs. I would too if I was a defenseless human with a giant red axe pointed at me. But not this guy. He continues to approach us. _Is this guy stupid or something? Suicidal? Or is he stronger than he looks?_

The traitor is more than halfway to us. I don't understand why Ellis isn't attacking. He gave the traitor a chance and he didn't take it. "Ellis, let's finish this. We have class tomorrow morning."_ Not to mention I'm starving._

"Right." In less than a second Ellis is in beside the traitor. I'm pressed up against his neck, like he's going to get decapitated. My stomach turns, I don't like decapitating people. Dr. Stein told me that sometimes people keep their consciousness up to thirty seconds after their head gets cut off. After that I decided decapitation isn't for me, and I hope it won't come to that.

Ellis stares at the traitor from under his hair with equally emotionless eyes. "I'm only telling you once. Leave."

"Did you sleep well last night?" The traitor moves forward and I can feel me slicing into his neck._ Is he crazy? I'll cut straight through him!_

Ellis pulls back my blade and spins on his heel until we are behind the traitor. Without missing a beat he swings my hilt until it connects with the back of the traitors head with a loud thump. The traitor drops to the ground like a sack of potatoes. The red light flashes again as I transform back into a human and land softly next to Ellis.

I shake my head as we stand over traitor. "I've never seen a traitor do anything like that before. What's wrong with him?"

Ellis watches the fallen traitor closely, searching him for anything strange. "He's an idiot."

"Yeah," I nod in agreement. I couldn't have said it any better myself. "you can say that again."

"He's an idiot." Ellis repeats.

I face palm myself. _This guy._ "No, Ellis. I didn't literally mean to say it again." I swear he was locked in a room for all of his life because he just doesn't understand anything. Throw him in the ring and the guy is a monster, but throw him into a social setting and it's like he's four years old all over again. He just sinks into the background, a real wallflower.

He looks over at me. "If you didn't mean it, then why would you say it?"

I sigh. I should get a mug for this. '#1 social coach' it should say. "It's an expression, okay? Remember I told you about those. It's just something people say."

He looks back down at the traitor. "Yes, I remember."

"Then why-?" I stop myself. _No. No. I will not get into this with him_. "Never mind. Can we go no? We did what we were told."

He turns away and starts down the street without a word. I jog after him. It's hard being small and having a partner who's completely oblivious to social cues. Either that or he just chooses to ignore the fact that I have to run to catch up with him every time we walk._ Maybe I should make him carry me. It would serve him right. _

"I can't wait to get home." I say as my stomach let's out a growl. I haven't eaten all day. I completely blew my allowance on new clothes because Ellis accidentally bleached mine after seeing a stain on one of my shirts. It's times like that I swear he's just acting and trying to spite me. "I'm starving."

"Are you and your stomach hinting at me that you want me to make something to eat?"

I smile. "That's exactly what we're doing."

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So, what did you guys think? Please review! I know it was kind of short, but the next chapter will be longer I promise! and I'm sorry of there were any grammar errors. I typed this on my iphone since my computer is broken and autocorrect kind of hates me. .


	2. Nightmares

Hi everyone! This is my second chapter. I'm going to try to do one per day. Anyways, enjoy!

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Darkness. Total darkness.

I open my eyes slowly, blinking into the dull gray light. My eyes flick from side to side, searching. Where ever I am, I haven't been here before. I put my hand down to prop myself up. Something wet causes my hand to slip. It's not sticky, but it's thick what ever it is. I lift my hand up, but I can't see what the wet stuff is, so I bring my hand to my face and inhale. Maybe I'll be able to tell by its scent.

_Oh my god._

The coppery tang of blood assaults my nose. I pull myself to my feet in a panic. _What is this place? Why am I laying in a puddle of blood_? Or the most important question, _who's blood is it? _I know for a fact it isn't mine, I'm not hurt. I reach out, trying to find something, anything to help me figure out what's going on. I start stumbling around blindly as every horrific situation I have ever thought of runs through my head. _What if I got kidnapped? Or eaten? Or what if I'm...dead?_

"Cardinal!" A startled voice suddenly rings out. I freeze. I recognize that voice. That's Ellis's voice. My Meister, my best friend. "Cardinal!"

I have never heard him so worked up and if terrifies me even more than I already am. He's always so calm and composed, even in the worst of situations. _What could be making him this afraid? What if he's in trouble? What if he needs me? _I start moving towards where I think his voice is coming from, ignoring the shaking in my legs.

"Ellis!" I call out. "Ellis? Where are you?"

His scream answers me. "Cardinal!"

I suddenly feel sick and tears spring into my eyes. "Ellis! Ellis! Don't worry, I'll be right there!" I start running, but every time I think I'm almost there his voice starts coming from somewhere else. What if he's being hurt? Just as that thought crosses my mind the screams stop.

The silence is overwhelming, eerie almost. Did something happen to him? Is he...is he...dead? "Ellis?" I call out. My voice is small and shaky. "Ellis? Are you okay? Please...Please answer me!"

A hand suddenly grasps my ankle and a scream erupts from my throat. I look down with terrified eyes and what I see curls my stomach. Ellis slowly starts pulling himself from blood, his blonde hair stained red with it. His eyes are black and emotionless, just like the traitor's from last night.

"Cardinal..." He moans, using his hands and pulling himself up my body. "H-help me. Please. Help me."

I cover my mouth with my hands. _This is my fault. It's my fault he's hurt. I should have been there with him._ "Ellis...Oh god."

Blood starts to pour from his eyes, mouth and nose. "Help me, please help."

My words are stuck in my throat. There isn't anything I can say, anything that will make this better, to make this forgivable. I'm his weapon, his partner. It's my job to do every thing I can to protect him, even if it means giving up my life. But I didn't do that job and now he's hurt worse than I've ever seen before and it's all my fault.

His fingers dig into my sides, pulling me from my morose thoughts. "Help me." The blood in his mouth starts pouring out faster, to the point where he begins to choke on it. "H-help."

Another hand latches on to me. I look over my shoulder to see a pale, thin hand latched on to my ankle. Another hand burst from the blood, then another one. In a matter of seconds I am being dragged down into the blood. I struggle, but the hands are too strong. This isn't even possible. I was just walking on the floor a few minutes ago, now the blood is so deep I can't even reach the ground. My eyes flick around frantically, searching for Ellis, but he's no where to be seen. _Where did he go?_

A hand grips my hair and wrenches my head back. I scream, from pain or pure terror I'm not sure. Blood flows into my mouth as my head is pulled underneath the surface. My screams echo in my ears, shrill and panicked.

And then there's silence.

I spring up from my bed, tears steaming down my face and still screaming from the nightmare. The door to my room springs open. Ellis is standing there in his pajamas, hair askew from sleep. "What happened?" He asks as he approaches my bed.

Before I can think I am out of my bed and wrapping my arms around his chest. It's comforting having his arms around my shoulders. I can feel my heartbeat slow from it's panicked pace as I breath in his scent. He always smells live evergreen trees, which to me means home.

He rubs his hands up and down my back, calming me. "Was it another nightmare?"

"It's always the nightmares." For the past seven months I have had these horrific nightmares. Ever since Pixie, my best friend, was killed. Pixie was a Meister and her weapon was Cyan, a demon bow. Ellis and I went with them when they went to go collect their finale soul, a witches soul, but the alligator Witch was too strong. She brutally killed pixie and nearly killed us too. If it wasn't for the intervention of Sid, Nygus and Spirit we would have been killed. After that I dropped out of the combat focused EAT class for some time to cope and get my life together. Ellis followed me out. Now we're in the NOT class, which focuses on learning how to control your abilities rather than how to fight with them. "Do you want to talk about it?" Ellis asks.

I know it's taking a lot for him to be so concerned. Usually he just pats me on the back and figures I'll get over it, which I usually do. I know he cares about me. He just isn't good at showing it, so it means a lot having him make an effort to.

"No." I pull back from our embrace, and let out a tense laugh. "I'd rather not think about it."

He watches me closely for a moment before nodding. "If that's what you want." He makes his way to the door, but pauses just before he exits. "If you want to talk, I'm right next door."

I blink in surprise. "Yeah, I know." If Ellis asking if I want to talk about it one time was a shocker, him saying it a second time is a straight up miracle. I want to know who this guy is and what he did with my Meister?

Ellis leaves the room, but not before casting another concerned look over his shoulder. I stand there in the middle of the carpeted floor and nod at him to let him know he can go. I'm not sure whether I like this new, empathetic Ellis or not. Wait—I look over at the clock next to my bed. It reads 2:32 am. That explains it. Ellis always gets friendlier and more open when he's tired. It's like the lack of oxygen to his brain opens him up to the world. It's really weird considering most people become cranky, but that's Ellis for you.

I sigh and crawl back into bed. I spend the next three and a half hours asleep in my bed. The next time I wake up it's because my alarm clock is buzzing in my ear. Time for school.

I groan as I push the plush covers off of me. _Why? Why did the sun have to come out so soon? _I look out the window at the maniacally laughing ball of fire and wish somebody would put it out already._ God, I hate mornings. _I somehow manage to clamber out of bed and to my closet. I quickly strip from my comfy blue pajamas and pull on my school uniform. It's a white collared shirt with long sleeves and a black tie with a white skull in the middle. The shirt is tucked into a short black pleated skirt. Under that I have black thigh high socks and a pair of combat boots in the same color. _Wow, I really do wear a lot of black._ _But who can blame me? It's such a neutral color, goes with practically anything._ I stand in front of the mirror as I loosen my tie, then I check to make sure the rest of me is somewhat presentable. My straight crimson red hair hangs to my mid back. There are three small strands of hair on each side of my face jutting out like curved wings. They're almost like bangs. I run my fingers through it quickly in an attempt to unknot it. Luckily for me it works. My eyes are big, and the same shade of red as my hair. I have five piercings in both ears, each hole has a small stud in it, and there's a small bird shaped birthmark on my left wrist, the only mark on my creamy skin. I do one last spin before exiting my room and heading into the hallway. I take in a deep breath, breathing in the smell of Ellis's cooking. _Mmmm, pancakes and bacon._

My boots are loud as I clamber down the steps, eager for food. "Hey, Ellis! What time is it?" I ask as I turn the corner.

Ellis is standing there in the middle of the kitchen with a bag in his hand. "You're late." He states, and holds a different bag out for me. Ellis is a good looking guy, with longish blonde hair that falls into his brown eyes. He has on his usual blank expression, along with his usually school attire. It's a unbuttoned black jacket with a high collar and a plain green shirt underneath. He's wearing black pants along with shoes of the same color. His ever present headband, black with a giant white skull, is on too.

"I know, I know." I take the bag with enthusiasm. "Thanks." Ellis is such a good cook it's almost unreal. Even the pickiest of eaters can't deny the deliciousness.

The two of us leave our apartment and make our way through the streets of Death City to the DWMA. I stand there at the bottom of the giant staircase and mentally prepare myself for the trek. _Come on, Cardinal. It's only a couple hundred stairs. You can do it._

Ellis looks over at me. "Let's go." He says and takes off up the stairs.

I nod, determined to keep up with him. "Alright."

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Please review and tell me what you think! Thanks so much for reading! ^_^


	3. The Stairs

In this chapter you'll be meeting a few of the cannon characters, so get ready!

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I get up a total of three DWMA stairs before someone calls out my name from somewhere behind me. Relief floods through my body. _Yes! Now I won't have to keep up with Ellis's insane pace because he gets a head start._

"Hey, Cardinal! Wait for me!" I watch Ellis run up the stairs without me for a few moments before looking over my shoulder at whoever is calling me. A grin spreads across my face as I see Maka, one of my really good friends, running down the street, her long black coat flowing behind her. She has on her usual school uniform, a white shirt under a yellow vest and a short red plaid skirt.

I wave to her. "Yo, Maka! Long time no see!" I call back. I haven't seen her since I transferred out of the EAT class almost six months ago. She's one of the strongest students, and Meisters in that class. Not only grade wise, but battle wise too. She's definitely in the top five students at the DWMA. The fact that she's so close to getting her last soul is a testament the that. I'm pretty sure she's on number eighty-nine, so she has ten more to go.

"Yeah, I know. What have you been up to?" Maka asks as she pulls me into a hug. I hug her back. Even with Maka I'm too short, only up to her shoulders. It's a little depressing considering we're the same age.

I shrug and run through my life. _Has anything interesting happened to me lately?_ Aside from the Traitor, I don't think so. "Same old, how about you?"

She starts up the steps slowly, gray pigtails bobbing. I walk beside her at a normal pace. See, she knows not to walks so fast I can't keep up, unlike my Meister. "Nothing really. Soul's...well he's Soul."

The two of us snicker for a moment. I know just as well as she does how Soul can be. We were in the same basic weapon class in our first year. "What about Black Star? How's that idiot been?" I ask.

She grits her teeth. "He's as stupid as ever. Yesterday he completely fumbled a mission with one of his speeches and lost thirty Kishin eggs."

I face palm. "He's hopeless." _Oh, Black Star._ He's one of the cockiest, most arrogant Meisters I have ever met. But he's also one of the strongest, and maybe he would be able to prove that to everyone else if he wasn't such a high-strung fool.

Maka stops for a moment and takes a long look up at the stairs. She turns back to me with a smile. "Hey Goldwing, race you to the top?"

I grin. "You're on, Albarn."

The two of us sprint up the stairs, taking two at a time. She, of course, is beating me, but not by much. As we run a small shape comes into view a little ways ahead of us. As we get closer I can make out the outline of the speck. It's a person. She has straight black hair that falls to her shoulders, and she's wearing a black school uniform with boots. "Hey, Maka. Who's that?" I ask through heavy pants.

Maka shrugs. "I'm not sure. I haven't seen her before." I'm impressed. She isn't gasping as she tries to talk. Heck, she hasn't even broken a sweat yet.

"She probably a freshman. Poor kid, I remember my first time running up these stairs." I sputter. I nearly passed out and rolled down the steps. That's how Ellis and I met. He found me sprawled out in the middle of the stairs and told me to stop lying around. At the time it was exactly the motivation I needed to hear, and when we went to the orientation room we decided to partner up. The rest is history. "She's swaying. Let's see if she's alright."

Maka nods. "Good idea, let's go."

The two of us are only about fifty steps away when the girl accidentally knocks over her brown suitcase. She reaches out for it, but its to far away and starts sliding down the stairs. The girl stands there with wide eyes, tears brimming.

"I got it!" Maka calls back to me as she speeds up. She grabs the suitcase, dragging it behind her as she catches up with the freshman. The girl gapes at Maka like she's some sort of god as she places the suitcase in front of her. She reminds me of me my first day, so wide-eyed and confused. You never know what to expect from the DWMA until your actually there. Sure, you hear rumors, but they just don't do the massiveness of the school or the craziness of students justice.

Maka flashes her a reassuring smile. "It's just a little farther. Hang in there!" Her eyes flash to me, then back to the other girl before she turns around and continues up the stairs without me. "See you!" She calls over her shoulder. I'm not sure which one of us she was talking about, but I am sure she's going to win our race.

I see the girl's lips moving as she says something to herself, but I can't hear what it is. As I run past her, I latch on to the wrist of her free arm and pull her after me. She gasps, but follows my lead.

"Come on!" I exclaim. "We can't stop now!"

By the time we get to the top of the stairs the girl is panting heavily and sweat is dripping down her face. Maybe I shouldn't have dragged her so fast. "_Finally_!" She exclaims, falling face first on to the ground. "We made it."

"Yeah," I'm impressed she could keep up. "you did pretty good for a freshman."

I can see her face flush. "R-really?"

I nod. "Yup. You keep that up and you'll fit right in here."

There's a smile on her face when she lifts her head, and she notices the can of soda and note Maka left for her at the top of the stairs. I smile. That's just like Maka. She picks up the can and note and stands up.

"Turn around?" She mumbles. She turns her back to me and gasps. "Wow, so this is Death City?"

I stand next to her, overlooking the entire city. The DWMA is the tallest point, so you can see everything from here. "Pretty amazing right?"

She nods, completely speechless.

A hand is suddenly placed on my shoulder. "Cardinal."

A yelp escapes my throat as I spin around. Ellis is standing there, hand still extended. He drops it and gives me a deadpan look. "You took too long."

I lean over and put my hands on my knees, heartbeat still racing. He always does that, sneaking up on people. He's just so quiet and unnoticeable. I don't think I'll ever get use to it. "Jeez, Ellis. You nearly gave me a heart attack."

His expression doesn't change. "Sorry."

I turn back to the girl, who's still staring at the view. "Well, I'll see you around. Good luck."

She turns back to me and flashes a smile. "Yeah, you too."

Ellis and I make our way into the school. The first thing I notice is the giant bulletin board filled with posters and missions. There are students bustling all around the halls, but only one catches my attention. Black Star. His bright blue hair contrasts with his tan skin. Combine that with his ninja get-up and its hard not to pay attention to him, which is what I think he's going for. He's arguing with a brown-haired student I've seen around a couple of times, a Meister like himself. Tsubaki, his weapon, a pretty older girl with long black hair, is hanging back with an exasperated look on her face.

I look around for anyone else I recognize, and I see two more people. "Hey, Ellis look over there." I say as I point at Leonie King, Ellis's cousin.

She is a beautiful EAT class Meister with straight, messy golden-blonde hair that's cut into a short, chin length bob which hangs carelessly about her face, and one strand hanging between her eyes. She has large catlike eyes with slitted pupils of the same golden color as her hair, and there are three small silver studs in each ear. She also has a black tribal lion tattoo wrapping around her left forearm. The head of the lion opens up on her left hand, her sword hand, like its roaring. A nice effect, though the plain white hoodie she has on covers it. Over the hoodie she wears a black collared vest with white trimming and a white skull on the breast. She also wears a short grey pleated skirt, white knee-length socks and black high-top converse sneakers, and despite her somewhat boyish looks, Leonie has a killer body.

I've known Leonie since I came to DWMA, and I've come to the conclusion she is a strong, slightly terrifying person, but I'm not afraid of her. In fact I really admire her bravery and strength. She is one of the fiercest Meisters I have ever met, with a strong will and an incredible resolve she's impossible to break. She's what one might call a child prodigy, an idol at our school. People say she's going to create the next Death Scythe, that she's going be one of, maybe even the strongest Meisters to ever graduate from DWMA. I've seen her massive soul, and I have to agree them. That chick is going to be a legend. But there's a darkness about her, a weight you can see in her eyes and the serious way she acts. That's what scares people away and makes them avoid her. That, and her ability to channel her soul wavelength into parts of her body which can strengthen her to the point where even a flick of her finger could break a bone, is pretty terrifying too. According to Ellis, he and his parents are her last living family members. Her family was all killed by a witch when she was nine, her whole village was. After that she went off the grid for three years before coming back into the world four years ago.

Standing next to her is her weapon, Neon Torro. He's reckless, almost to the point of crazy, rushing into fights without a second thought. He and Blackstar are a match made in heaven, a seriously messed up heaven. Personally, I think Neon is a good-looking guy. He's lean, and muscular with a head of thick spiky black hair. Other than his personality, the other thing that stands out about him are his eyes. His left eye is a bright blue color, while his right eye is bright green. His clothing is considerably plain, a white button down with short sleeves, a pocket on the left breast that has a black skull on it, and the first button undone. He has on no tie, and his shirt is left untucked over black slacks and black shoes.

When I make eye contact with Leonie she just nods, silently acknowledging me. I see her look over my shoulder at Ellis, and the sides of her mouth raise slightly. Neon gives us a wide grin and a wave before being tugged along by his Meister.

I look over at Ellis, but his face is a blank as usual, so I turn my attention back to the blue-haired Meister. "Hey, Black Star!" I call out. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size for once?" I'm not sure there actually is someone his size. No one can match that ego.

He turns around with a cocky look on his face. "Eh? I'll fight anyone no matter what the size because I am the great Black Star!" He exclaims, throwing the guy into a wall. He points his finger at me dramatically. "Including you!"

"He's an idiot." Ellis says. I nod in agreement. Sometimes I'm not sure whether he likes Black Star or not. They're such complete opposites its almost painful for people to witness them hold a conversation.

"Come on, Black Star." Tsubaki says, she puts her hands up in a pleading manner. "You don't need to do that."

He shakes his head. "You don't understand Tsubaki. I do have to. Maybe...Maybe then she'll realize my greatness!" The other Meister charges him again and Black Star slams his fist into his face. "HAHAHAHA! SEE? I'M THE GREATEST MEISTER IN THE WORLD!"

I roll my eyes. Like I said, ego. "Yeah yeah, I'll see you guys later."

Tsubaki let's out an awkward laugh as Black Star screams at me to challenge him so he can 'prove his godliness'. "It was good seeing you, Cardinal. You too, Ellis." She says.

We walk away just in time to avoid Black Star throwing the guy into yet another wall. Boy, that other guy sure does have guts.

"We need to find Sid." Ellis says. I notice he waits until after we're far enough away from the main hall that no one will hear.

I knit my eyebrows together in confusion. "What? Why?"

He turns a corner. "The Traitor. There was something off about him."

Oh. "Right." Memories from last night flood my brain. The traitors dead, black eyes, it's monotone voice and puppet like movement. Yeah, there was definitely something wrong there. "He should be in the teacher's lounge this early in the morning."

A long hallway, two stair cases, and a balcony later the two of us arrive at the teacher's lounge. I push the door open and walk in, not bothering to knock. _What could they be doing that's so important?_ Nothing, unless you count planning lessons as important.

_Hmmm_, I've never been in here before. The teacher's lounge is a simple room with two red couches, a fridge against the wall, a microwave propped up on a small table, and a printer. There are many cabinets lining the walls filled with who knows what. Sid is sitting at the table along with his weapon partner, Nygus, who is also a school nurse. They both have dark skin and braided hair, but Nygus is covered in bandages whereas Sid dresses like a basketball player.

"Sid-sensei, Cardinal and I need to speak with you." Ellis announces. He doesn't bother whispering because they're the only two people in the room. "It's about what you asked from us."

"Huh? Oh, Right." He gets up and gestures for us to follow him into the hallway. "What's the problem? Did you take care of it?"

"We confronted the traitor as you ordered," Ellis assures "but there was something off about him."

"Off?" Sid crosses his arms over his chest. "What do you mean off?"

I flick my eyes over to Ellis. If I let him explain this will take hours. "He means the traitor didn't run away like they usually do. He practically walked into my blade."

He knits his eyebrows together, then he rubs his chin thoughtfully. "Hm, that is strange. What did you two do with him?"

"We incapacitated him." Ellis says matter'o'factly.

"Hopefully that will be enough for him to learn his lesson." I add. That last thing anyone needs is that creepy eyed freak running around the city starting problems.

Sid looks at Ellis, then me, then back at Ellis. "I hope so too."

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So, what did you guys think? Please review and tell me what you think! ^_^


	4. Enrollment!

Hi everyone! This is the fourth chapter of my story and the longest one so far. It's set during the first chapter/episode of Soul Eater NOT! I hope you enjoy!

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"Are you sure it's over there?" I ask Ellis. The two of us have wandered around the DWMA for ten minutes, which is admittedly my fault. I could have sworn the orientation room was on the other side of the school, but apparently not. It's been two years and I still can't find my way around.

Ellis gives me a blank look, but I feel like there's some annoyance added in there. "Yes. I'm sure. You should have listened to me from the start."

"I know, I know." I speed up, walking ahead to get a better look, and to avoid his indirect glare. I end up at the end of a hallway long hallway. I stop walking and look around. A Death statue at the other end catches my eyes. _Hmmm, I've seen that before._ "I think I know where we are!" I suddenly exclaim. There's no hiding the excitement in my voice.

"I know I know where we are." Ellis says.

My smile doesn't fade as I make my way down the hall. I make another right and end up on a catwalk. There are railings on both sides so people don't fall off. I turn around to call out for Ellis, but instead I end up running into him _yet again_ and getting knocked on my butt.

"Oh my god!" I exclaim. "Come on, Ellis don't sneak up on me like that!"

He holds his hand out to me. "I don't understand what the problem is. You were about to call my name."

"Well yeah," I reach out and take his hand. He hoists me up. "but that doesn't mean I want you making me practically pee my pants!"

"You just went ten minutes ago. You aren't going to be—"

"Alright!" I exclaim, covering my ears before he says something that will scar me for life. "I get it, okay? I was kidding. It was a joke."

He shakes his head. "You didn't make that clear."

I stare at him incredulously. "But I – I – you know what? Never mind. Let's get going before we're anymore late."

"That would probably be a good idea." Ellis agrees.

Right as we get to the other side, a voice rings out, echoing throughout the empty corridors. "The inside of the school is like a maze! I'm so lost!"

I recognize that voice. I go to the railing just in time to see the freshman girl from earlier wandering around the hall. "Where am I?" She moans.

"Hey!" I call out. The girl jumps slightly and spins around. She looks around confused. "Up here!"

She cranes her neck up, and when she sees me her face lights up. "Oh! It's you!"

"Yup," I nod "and I'm guessing you're lost?"

Her face flushes with embarrassment. "Y-yes. This school is just so huge."

"Yeah, I know." I launch myself over the rails. I bend my knees, embracing the impact. I land a few feet away from her. A second later I hear Ellis land behind me. "What's your name?" I ask.

She's practically gaping at us. Must not be use to all the crazy things the student here do. "It's Tsugumi. Tsugumi Harudori."

"Well Tsugumi-san, it's nice to meet you. I'm Cardinal Goldwing." I hold out my hand and she shakes it tentatively.

She gives me a small smile as she let's go of my hand. "It's nice to meet you to, Cardinal-sempai." Her eyes flick over to Ellis and I elbow him when she isn't directly looking.

His eyes shift over to me. "I don't understand why you did that." He says quietly.

I roll my eyes and gesture for him to introduce himself. He doesn't get the hint. _Gosh, he's oblivious to social cues_. "Introduce yourself already."

He stares at me for a moment, then focuses on Tsugumi. "I am Ellis King."

She bows her head slightly. "It's nice to meet you, Ellis-sempai."

He just stares at her as a reply and I resist the urge roll my eyes again. He could have at least shook her hand. "If you're looking for freshman orientation just follow us," I say, then I realize I have no clue where I'm going "or follow him." Ellis gives me a look before taking the lead.

Tsugumi looks confused as she starts off beside me. "But you're not a freshman, are you Cardinal-sempai?"

I shake my head. "Nope. Me and Ellis are both sophomores, but it's our first year in NOT."

She gapes. "If it's your first year, does that mean you were in the EAT class?" I nod. "Wow! That's so amazing!

"It's not as exciting as it sounds." Ellis interrupts. "Almost dying everyday eventually looses its charm."

"_Ehhh_?" She exclaims. "D-dying?"

"It's the responsibility of those in the EAT class to destroy evil and eventually train their weapons to become Death Scythes, so it's only reasonable to expect your life would be put in danger."

Tsugumi let's out a tense laugh. Her hand tightens around her suitcase, making her knuckles turn white. I inwardly groan. Now he's gone and done it. Next thing we know she'll be booking a plane ticket out of here. "That's not what NOT is like, right?" She asks.

I put my hand on her shoulder. "Oh no, not at all. You'll figure that out when you get there, right Ellis?"

"If she didn't she'd be an idiot."

Tsugumi frowns.

"Hey, don't mind him." I assure. "He's just not very good with words...or emotions...or people in general for that matter." I shake my head. "But other than that he's a good person, and an amazing partner."

She looks at Ellis's back warily, but eventually the tenseness in her starts to dissipate. "Well, if you say so, then I believe you Cardinal-sempai."

"Great," I smile at her. I kind of like this kid. She had a certain something inside of her, a spark. "and it's just Cardinal, okay?"

She nods. "Okay!"

"We're here." Ellis says, stopping outside a door to our left. He pulls it open an holds it for the two of us as we enter. What a gentleman? When I walk inside I see there is already people in the room. There's a girl with long blonde hair and a white dress by the window, and a girl in a yellow sweater with short orange hair standing in the middle of the room. She looks lost somehow. Two guys, older looking than everyone else in the room, are standing by the back wall, a raven haired guy with glasses, and a tall blonde one.

The three of us make out way to Sid's podium at the front of the room. "Hey, Sid-sensei."I say.

"Cardinal, Ellis." Sid greets as he hands me a red weapon pin and Ellis a blue one, then he looks over my shoulder at Tsugumi. "New student?" He asks.

"Y-yes!" Tsugumi stutters. I nudge her to let her know me and Ellis are going to go talk to some other students and she acknowledges me with a nod. I am about to move away when the door opens, hitting me in the back and sending me tumbling forward. I knock into Tsugumi, who in turn knocks into the orange haired girl and the three of us go down like dominos. The orange haired girl is on the bottom of our pile and I'm on the top with Tsugumi trapped in the middle. Her face is pressed up against the orange haired girl's ample chest.

"Ah...I'm so jealous..." Tsugumi cooes, groping our chests. I'm surprised, the orange haired girl's chest is even bigger than mine. Tsugumi suddenly seems to realize what she's doing and it causes her eyes to widen. "Oh! Cardinal! I'm so sorry!" She exclaims, blushing furiously.

I shrug it off. "Don't worry about it Tsugumi-chan." I pull myself off of her and Ellis helps me to my feet.

"Everyone in the room saw your underwear." He informs me.

I can feel my face turn the same color as my hair. "Why were you looking, you pervert!" I exclaim, giving him a playful shove. It's the first day and I've _already_ managed to flash the whole class. That usually doesn't happen until at least the third day. Well, on the bright side at least I made sure to wear cute underwear today. If I didn't it would have been an even _bigger_ disaster.

It pleases me greatly to see the small tinge of pink in his face as he answers me. "It wasn't on purpose. As a male it is in my genes to be attracted to–"

Oh god no. I clamp my hands over my ears and turn away from him. "Lalalala! No, I've heard enough!"

"Oh, Cardinal!" Tsugumi taps me on the shoulder. When I turn around she gestures to the orange haired girl. That's weird, I could have sworn her pink hair ribbon was on the other side of her head just a minute ago. "This is Meme Tatane."

"It's nice to me you, Meme-san. I'm Cardinal Goldwing, " I gesture to Ellis "and this is my Meister Ellis King."

She smiles. "You too, Cardinal-sempai, Ellis-sempai."

"It's just Cardinal." I insist. They don't need to use honorifics for me.

"Cardinal?" Meme puts her finger to her chin, like she's in deep thought. "What's Cardinal?"

I blink in surprise. "My name. Cardinal is my name."

Her eyes brighten and she clamps her hands together. "Really? That's such a pretty name!"

I just look at her, unsure what to do. Is this girl serious right now? I'm about to open my mouth to ask when the blonde girl by the window catches my eyes. She's staring in our direction intently, _too intently_.

I scowl slightly and nudge Ellis. "Who's that?"

"I don't know," Ellis narrows his eyes, focusing in on her. He's probably looking at her soul "but she's a Meister."

"She's so pretty, almost like a princess." Tsugumi interjects. She's staring at the blonde girl with a star struck expression. When they make eye contact Tsugumi smiles sweetly at her, but the girl looks away with a scoff. "Gagantous!" Tsugumi exclaims, putting her hands up in front of her.

Ellis and I exchange looks, mine confused and his as blank as ever. But I know we're thinking the same thing. Gagantous? What's a gagantous? I know Ellis is probably running over his mental encyclopedia of everything to see if he can figure out the meaning. I, however, will take a more direct approach.

"Hey, Tsugumi. What's a Gag–"

"That's everyone, right?" Sid's voice cuts me off mid sentence. I cross my arms in a huff. That's the second time someone had interrupted me in less than three minutes. "Welcome to the DWMA. I'm Sid, one of the teachers here. There are those of you hear that transform into weapons, and there are those of you who wish to be Meisters, who fight with those weapons. There are probably those of you among the weapons who are not yet able to transform under your own will yet. But there is no rush. This is the school where will learn that. "

I can feel Tsugumi shift uncomfortably as he talks. She must be one of those people. No wonder she's acting so scared. She can't even transform full yet, so this all a big change for her. Just last week she was probably just your average girl, in your average school. Finding out you're not who you thought you were, and having to completely switch up your life so suddenly can be hard for anyone, but that's okay. She'll get there eventually, and if she needs help I'll help her.

There's a quiet snicker from the back of the classroom. "How lame. You got people like that here?"

I tense and Ellis grabs my arm. "Cardinal." His tone has all the reminder I need. It's saying _don't_, you'll only cause trouble. If it wasn't for him I would have went back there and kicked that cocky idiot's ass myself.

Sid's eyes are on the two of us for a moment, but they quickly shift off before it becomes noticeable to the rest of the class. "From here on, you will have to choose partners–" he announces "Meisters with Weapons, and Weapons with Meisters." I hear Tsugumi mumble something to herself. "For still inexperienced Weapons in particular, the Meister tho partner with is important. Just as one cannot become parent without a child, without a Meister that can use a Weapon, it will be difficult to become a Weapon. Take your time and find a partner you have good chemistry with."

"What should we do?" This voice is deeper than the guy's from earlier.

I grit my teeth as I hear the voice again. "I know I want a girl." It says. "If both of us are guys, I'll have to go to the filthy guys dorms, and having a girl partner seems like it will be easier."

_Ah_, they must be friends.

"I'm not an eloquent man." Sid says. "I think it will be quicker for you to understand if you actually see partners with matching wavelengths." He turns to the door. "Come on in."

I grin as Maka and her albino Weapon Soul enter the room. Maka stands tall, eyes wide and ready, while Soul slouches down with his signature lazy look. "These are your seniors. The Meister Maka Albarn, and the Weapon Soul Eater."

"Nice to meet you all. I'm Maka." She looks at me and smiles. I smile back. Then she notices Tsugumi, who has that amazed expression from the stairs plastered back on her face. She blushes bright pink as Maka smiles at her too."

"Okay, you two, begin."

As soon as he says those words Soul is enveloped in a pale blue light. He floats upwards for a moment before Maka grabs him and the light fades. In mere seconds be turned into his weapon form, a black and white scythe with an eye at the top.

"He turned into a Weapon!" Tsugumi exclaims. Wow, she really must be new to this whole Weapon thing, newer than I thought.

"Harudori, you're a weapon too, aren't you?" Meme asks.

"Oh..." Tsugumi looks down at her feet. "...I still can't do it like that..."

"You'll get there." I assure. "It took me almost six days to figure it out, that's even with the DWMA's help." Six long, terribly embarrassing days. I cringe just thinking about it and decide to turn my attention back to Maka to spare myself from reliving the embarrassment.

Maka is standing in the middle of the room now. "The weapon and Meister are both people. That is not just a 'thing'. If we acknowledges each other's wills and match our breathing, then without even any added force..." Soul starts to spin around her arm expertly. "he'll move!"

"Amazing..." Someone to my left whispers.

I watch as Make moves around, Soul matching her every move. Everyone gasps as she completely let's go of the scythe. He continues to spin around his Meister, almost faster than I can see. Maka jumps up, spinning the Weapon around underneath her. She moves back to the other side of the room and slices through the air a couple of times before bowing. I notice marks that weren't there before on the podium, and the look on her and Sid's face when it begins to fall apart is priceless. A snicker escapes my mouth. I'll never let her live _that_ down.

"This is a Weapon and Meister partnership." Sid gestures to Maka and Soul as he speaks. He is completely ignoring the broken podium. "You will learn all about it little by little in your classes. Right now, just sense out your feelings. That's all for today. You are dismissed."

"Wasn't that amazing? Tsugumi asks. "I'm surprised by how all of the upperclassman here are so incredible."

The blonde girl, once again, scoffs and turns away from her. She exits the room in a huff. _Man, what's her issue? Does she think she's better than us or something? _

Everyone begins to leave, but Ellis doesn't even budge. And I, as his partner, stay too. I wave at Tsugumi and Meme as they walk out the door before turning back to him. "So what are we waiting around for?" I ask. Most of the time he's the first person out the door.

His eyes shift over to the other two people in the room, the blonde and his raven haired partner.

The black-haired one is the first person to break the silence. "You two aren't your average NOT students." He says.

I narrow my eyes at him, but Ellis speaks up before I can. "That is correct."

"But neither are you." I add. They have too much chemistry together, and too much confidence for NOT freshman.

"That's true." His eyes shift between Ellis and I. "What are you two doing here?"

The blonde one crosses his arms over his broad chest. "Yeah, are you spy's or something? Assassins?"

Ellis sets his eyes on him. "Something like that." EAT students are taught all types of combat, so something like that is correct.

The four of us glare at the other partnership until Sid breaks the silence. He comes over to stand next to us. "They're students from the EAT class who dropped down this year."

The black-haired guy looks at him. "For what reason?"

"Personal ones." I say. _Really? _He could have just asked us. We're standing right here. "Why are you here?"

He smiles smugly. It makes me want to punch him. "Personal reasons."

Sid sighs. "Akane and Clay are here for similar reasons. That's all I can say. Now you four can leave. I already dismissed you."

Ellis turns to leave without another word. I give Akane and Clay one last hard look before following him out.

When I get out that what I see slightly surprises me. The two guys from earlier are facing off with Meme, Tsugumi, and the blonde girl. _Those three fighting? Already? N_ormally I would have expected it, but not from them. I move to break up the fight, but Ellis stops me. When I look at him he doesn't give me an explanation, he just focuses on the brewing fight.

"If you can't transform, then go home!" One of the guys exclaims. His voice is grating, like nails on a chalkboard.

Akane and Clay walk out right after he says that. Akane stops Clay from interfering, just like Ellis did to me.

"Hey!" Clay exclaims, obviously not understanding why his partner stopped him.

"Oh, let's have a look." Akane insists. "Our school life is just getting started, after all." Clay doesn't look happy with his partners explanation, but complies.

Sid comes out of his room, probably attracted by all the racket. "What's this?" He asks. "Trouble already? Well, it is this kind of school, after all."

"You're not going to stop them, Sid-_sensei_." Clay asks. There's a hint of mocking in his voice.

Sid shakes his head. Either he didn't notice his tone or he didn't care. I'm voting for the latter. "Nah, it is this kind of school, after all."

"The fight is over before it even started!" The one with the lighter hair exclaims. He's the one from the classroom. "Transform!"

He is enveloped in green light. It swirls around for a moment before the dark-haired Meister reaches out and grabs it. When it fades a tanto appears in his hand. Well, sort of.

"How 'bout that!" The weapon exclaims. "I can completely transform everything but my head!" His head is where the grip is supposed to be, so the last part of his sentence gets muffled by his Meister's hand. I can't decide whether it's extremely disturbing, or extremely funny.

The blonde girl looks over her shoulder at Tsugumi. "If you don't hurry up and transform, we'll get beaten up."

Tsugumi looks down at her feet in a mixture of embarrassment and shame. "But I can't. Not when I'm suddenly asked to do so."

"I heard that commoners were strong, powerful, cheerful, fun people." Ah, that explains her attitude. She's up there in the one percent. "But you do not seem to be that way. How disappointing."

The male Meister gets into the blonde's face. There's a cocky look on his face that I would just love to wipe off...with my fist. "So you don't need a weapon, then?" He asks in a condescending tone.

She doesn't reply, just winds up and slaps him right across the face, sending him rearing backwards. "Weapon or not I am not going to fall behind the likes of you!" She asserts.

Yes! I clap my hands together. "You go girl!" I exclaim. I like her. Maybe she's not as prissy as she comes off. The four guys I'm surrounded by look at me, two entertained, one exasperated, Ellis completely blank. I shrug. "What?" Akane and Clay chuckle, but don't say anything. Sid just shakes his head. Ellis, as usual, doesn't even blink.

The two guys advance on the three girls, and I realize they aren't in such a good position. It's probably time for some Weapon to Weapon advice. "Tsugumi! You have to visualize it!" I call out. "That blade sleeping within your soul! Awaken it so you can fight for what you believe is right, for your friends, for yourself! Because as of today...You are a DWMA student!"

Everything is still for a moment, then a bright pink light bursts from Tsugumi. Yes! She did it! She cries out as she begins to float above the ground. The light swirls around and shoots downwards towards the blonde Meisters hand. I raise an eyebrow when I see her weapon form. Tsugumi is a halberd? That's impressive.

"This is...me!?" Tsugumi asks. I can't tell whether she's impressed with it, or terrified.

"Look at that, you've got no blade." The other Meister sneers.

The girls ignore him. "He we go!"

They charge at him and the two weapons connect with a fierce set of blows. The black-haired Meister lunges at her, and the blonde side steps him, using Tusgumi's hilt to knock him off-balance. They don't give the two men time to breathe before attacking again, hitting the tanto straight in his face and knocking him out of his Meisters hand. The girls hit the Meister and he literally goes flying into the air. They charge and slam the bottom of Tsugumi's hilt into his stomach. He goes flying, once again, down the hall. Meme jumps over the oncoming body and he ends up in an upside down heap near where the rest of us are standing.

"One of you go to the nurse's office and ask Medusa-sensei to come here." Sid commands.

"Okay, I'll go." Clay offers.

Ellis nudges me, but when I look at him there's no visible sign of what he wants me to do. I don't know why I insist on looking at him when he does things like this. It doesn't help at all. It's a good thing I know him so well.

I nod at Ellis, but address Sid. "I'll go too."

"Okay, hurry up."

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Well, review and tell me what you think! I'll update as soon as I can, probably Monday though. Thanks for reading! ^_^


	5. My people

Hi everyone! This is my fifth chapter! I'm excited for you all to read it! ^_^

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Our walk to the nurses office started out as Clay and I generously trying to help out two fellow students, but it quickly morphed into an all out foot race. I'm not sure whether I was the one who instigated it, or if Clay was. Though, I'm ninety-nine point nine percent sure it was me.

I book it down the hallway in a full on sprint, feet barely touching the floor as I go. I know with his long legs Clay isn't far behind me. I'm just waiting for him to try to pass me and then there will be no hope for me. I throw a quick glance over my shoulder, but the hallway is empty. Okay, so maybe he isn't behind me at all. _Wow, I don't remember ever being this fast. _I turn my attention back to my goal, getting there first is all that matters right now. I don't care how far behind Clay is. I can see that there's a four-way hallway up ahead. Which way to go? Straight? No, that will take me to the cafeteria. Right will lead me in a circle, so left it is.

Just as I make my decision a large blur rushes past me from the right hallway to the left one. My eyes widen as I get a good look at it's back. _Clay_. It's Clay. _How in the world did he do that?_ He grins at me over his shoulder. "Don't take too long now!" He yells.

_Damn it!_ I immediate speed up, using up all that untouched energy I have stored. I'm breathing heavily, and my lungs feel like they're about to burst. By the look of where I am, the nurses office is down the next hall and to the right. That means I don't have much time to get a lead, so every second counts. I guess it's time for some drastic measures. I catch up with Clay just enough to reach out and grab the back of his dress shirt. If I'm not going to get there, then neither of us are. I latch on to him and he start yelling at me to let go. Instead I slip my foot underneath his and the two of us go down and begin rolling around on the school floor.

"Hey, hey! Let go!" Clay exclaims, trying to squirm away from me. He shakes off my hand and try's to crawl across the floor, but he isn't fast enough. I pounce on his back and he sinks to the ground with a grunt. "Damn it, let go of me!"

I grab his left hand as he reaches back to try to knock me off. "Not going to happen!" I yank it back and he let's out a surprised yelp.

He manages to twist himself around until he's facing up. He goes for my neck with his hands, and I grab his wrists tightly. I use my body weight, leaning forward and pushing his hands down until they're touching the floor. Then I scoot myself up his body until I'm straddling his chest, one knee on either side of his torso. I ignore the girly part of my brain, which is currently screaming at the fact there is a very attractive boy underneath me. _Brain, now is not the time for that. _

Clay looks up at me with an annoyed, but slightly impressed expression. "What the hell are you? Some sort of animal?"

I shrug, a smirk creeping its way up my face. I feel throughly accomplished, and a little cocky. "Something like that."

He raises an eyebrow. "Something like that, huh?" All of a sudden Clay bucks up, throwing me completely off-balance. As I scramble to right myself he takes the opening and flings me from him. I didn't see that coming. When I hit the ground I am stunned for a moment. Clay, once again, takes advantage of my surprise and climbs on top of me, pinning me down in the same position I had him in just a moment ago.

"Not so much fun on the other end, is it?" He asks. I don't miss the cocky smirk that's making its way across his mouth. _Boy, is that attractive._

I scoff despite my hormones and pink cheeks, then I roll my eyes. "Says the one who got pinned down by a girl."

Clay immediately becomes flustered, cheeks beginning to mirror mine. It's kind of cute. "Wha– wait a second! I did not! It's a lot more complicated than that! I–"

I smile smugly at him. "Uh huh, sure it is."

He shakes his head rapidly. "It wasn't fair! You took me by surprise!"

I raise an eyebrow. _Excuses, excuses_. "And this is? You're taller than me by more than a foot and outweigh me by at least fifty pounds."

"N-no! This is totally different!"

"Is that a double standard I hear?" I ask, leaning up until our faces are only an inch apart. For a moment all I want is to close the space between us, but I push the thought away. Instead I convince myself I'm not being flirty, just curious. But Clay isn't in my head and he gets more and more flustered by the second.

A shadow passes over the two of us to the other side of the floor. It pauses for a moment, then it quickly moves back. "Yo, Cardinal. Why didn't you tell me you had a boy toy?" A voice calls from down the hall. "No kissing in the hallway!"

I lean my head back and stare down the hallway. Four upside down people are approaching, but not just random people, _my_ people. My friends. Oh god. It's my friends. I can already tell this isn't going to go well for me. It will probably be more embarrassing than anything. "Hey, guys!" I call out. I try to laugh but it comes out somewhat nervous sounding. "How's it hanging?"

"Not as good as you." Nico replies with a grin. Everyone knows Nico Phantom. He and Black Star are tied for the student with the highest amount of raw power, and the biggest ego. Every time they see one another everyone knows to clear out, because they will undoubtably be a gigantic fight. It's like they're cut from the same cloth personality wise. Physically they're not as similar. Nico has chocolate-colored skin, brown eyes, and wavy, black hair that is so short it doesn't even cover his ears. There is a black tribal looking tattoo twisting around his right upper arm. He has on a short-sleeved black button down with a loosened red tie, dark gray pants, and black shoes, his usually school attire. The tie has a white skull on it.

His Weapon partner, Sanders West, blinks tiredly at me. "That's an understatement." Where Nico is loud and competitive, Sanders is relaxed and tolerant. There isn't a time when he doesn't look like he's ready to fall asleep, sometimes he does. Physical activities are his kryptonite, along with anything and anyone bossy. Sanders' appearance only helps enhance his personality. His dark gray is tied back into a low spiky puff-ball at the back of his head, and his narrow blue eyes are in their usual lazy expression. Sanders is also very tall, taller than any of my other friends and taller than me by almost two feet. Right now he's wearing an unbuttoned black jacket with a white skull on the breast, a white button down untucked from black slacks, and black shoes. I'm surprised the clothes aren't wrinkled because of their lack of care.

"I think it's adorable that Cardi Card is making moves on her boyfriend in the middle of the hallway." Marvel says. I can't tell if she's joking or not, but knowing her she is. Marvel Quiver. Weapon. She's the most mischievous, sneaky, and hard to read person I have ever met. With her sarcasm and fake politeness it's almost impossible to figure out what's really going on inside. Despite that it's almost impossible to bring her down or to get her to lift a finger against someone unless absolutely necessary. She would rather play mind games with them. Marvel is also very beautiful, all curves with purple eyes and straight, waist length dark blue hair that's tied off near the end by a black and white skull patterned bow. Her school uniform, a white button down with short sleeves tucked into a high-waisted dark red skirt, sheer black tights, and a thick red ribbon around her neck, is as prim and polished as ever. Her black Mary Janes even shine like brand-new.

"Actually," I intercede, before this gets anymore out of hand I need to stop them. The next thing I know there will be people running up to me asking about my nonexistent love life, teachers too. They have social connections like no other. "he's not my boyfriend."

Nico narrows his eyes, silently challenging me. "Then why's he on top of you."

"Because I–" Clay sputters, but he gets cut off before he can finish his sentence.

"Because it's forbidden love!" Thisbe exclaims, squealing in excitement. "Oh, how romantic! Like Romeo and Juliet all over again!"

I let my head drop to the ground with a thud. Oh, Thisbe. My dear, dear Thisbe. The biggest romantic in the seven seas. The biggest klutz too. She's a skinny girl, a little younger than me, with big dark orange eyes, pale skin, and light green hair. Her green locks are tied up into two short pigtails and there are uneven bangs falling into her eyes. She also has on a pair of thick glasses and her usual school attire, a black short-sleeved button down shirt that has a little pocket with a white skull on it, a blue bow tie around her neck, a dark blue plaid skirt, and knee-high white socks under black sneakers.

"That's not even close." I say incredulously.

"It's really not." Clay agrees, but the four of them completely ignore us. They're to busy discussing our 'star-crossed' romance.

I look up at Clay in exasperation, and he stares back down at me with a similar expression. "It might help if you weren't laying on top of me." I tell him. I try to be cool about it, but it takes all of my will to keep the heat off my face that appears every time I think about the position we're in.

"Oh! You're probably right." He says, obviously flustered again as he climbs off of me. _Gosh, he's so cute when he's embarrassed._

_Woah, slow down girl._ I remind myself. _You have bigger problems_.

Clay holds his hand out and as I reach to take it Thisbe screeches again. "Look! They're holding hands! They're in loovvveeee!"

I rolls my eyes as he pulls me up. The four of them are impossible. "Awwwww stooop! You guys are the cutest!"

Clay let's go of my hand and scratches the back of his head awkwardly. "Thisbe, we uh, we aren't together."

Once again, the two of us are completely ignored, so I change the subject. "How do you know Thisbe?" I ask Clay. Most of the time NOT students don't know the names of EAT students. They're too busy focusing on learning how to control their abilities.

Clay's eyes widen. "Thisbe? Who's Thisbe? I don't know any Thisbe! What's a Thisbe?"

His laugh makes me raise an eyebrow. There's no way he should be that nervous if I'm just asking him a question. "But you just said her name. Thisbe, did he not just say your–"

I don't even get to finish my sentence before Clay grabs my face between his strong hands and presses his lips to mine, throughly silencing me. My eyes widen and my heartbeat kicks, but I don't pull away. The butterflies in my stomach might try to burst out if I do. Thisbe's voice fades into the background, everything fades into the background as he moves a hand from my face and wraps it around my waist, pulling me closer to him. I feel myself leaning on instinct. My arms leave my sides and wrap around his neck like they have minds of their own. One of my hands travels up and wraps itself in his hair. I feel him sigh softly against my lips. _Oh, no._ Forget the butterflies. There's a whole zoo rampaging inside of me.

When he finally pulls away I am panting from the lack of breathing. We are still leaning against each other, and his hands don't move from their positions on my face and waist, not that I mind. That kiss was so intense I don't even remember what I was going to say before. I don't even care that I don't remember. I slowly lift my eyes to his and he looks even more surprised than I am. His dark blue eyes are gazing into my red ones intensely, like he didn't expect that to happen. It's a little weird considering he is the one who initiated it.

"That, uh, that was nice." I say, trying to snap him out of his daze. My voice is still unsurprisingly breathy. I've kissed guys before, but it never felt like that. My cheeks burn just thinking about the kiss.

Clay looks almost surprised that I can actually speak. He doesn't say anything for a moment. "Yeah," He says softly. His eyes search mine, flicking back and forth for what feels like forever. It's almost mesmerizing. He leans back in and places a far more controlled kiss on my lips. It's short, but sweet and gets the same reaction from me, butterflies and all. After that he let's go of my face, leaving me feeling slightly exposed.

Small hands suddenly seize my shoulders, turning me away from Clay and to another pair of eyes, this time orange. "Why didn't you tell me he was your boyfriend?" Thisbe whines. "You guys are so secretive and cute! I'm jealous!"

As fake as it might sound after what just happened, I can't lie to her. Clay and I aren't together, we aren't actually dating. I literally just met him an hour ago. "Clay and I aren't-"

Clay's hand snakes around my waist. "Aren't together? What are to talking about? Yes we are." I'm thrown off by his sudden change in personality, or what's that all just acting? He let's out a tense laugh, but there's a hint of something else in there. Disappointment maybe? Yeah right. The only thing he's disappointed about is not getting me to lie for him. "Right, Cardinal?"

I scowl slightly and shoot him a look. It says 'you better be explaining this.' I smile sweetly at Thisbe as I slip my hand around Clay's waist. I dig my fingers into his side for some payback and it makes me feel a little better about letting me get my hopes up. I realize I fit right underneath his arm because of our difference in height, which only makes me feel worse. I feel slightly guilty too for lying to Thisbe, but I'll explain it all later once I figure out what it is Clay is thinking. "Of course honey, you're _always_ right." I say sarcastically.

He does the tense laugh again and squeezes my shoulder a little too tightly. "Oh, I wouldn't say all the time, only most of the time."

"As long as the two of you aren't doing anything I wouldn't do, I don't really care." Nico says. He pats Clay on the shoulder. "You did good, man. Cardinal's a catch." His eyes slide over to me and immediately know he is going to say something that is going to piss me off, probably about my height. "A little short for my tastes," like I said "but she does have a huge rack."

"Nico!" I exclaim, blushing furiously. I didn't expect the last part, but I probably should have this _is_ Nico I'm talking about. I slam my fist into his chest to cover up my embarrassment. "Seriously?"

He laughs as he backs away from my other fist. "I'm just being honest!"

Clay grabs me, stopping me from kicking Nico in the face. "Honest my ass!" I exclaim. No one else is as surprised as Clay. They're use to Nico and me butting heads all the time.

"Alright, come on Cardinal. We still have to get to the nurse." Clay insists. He starts trying to tug me down the hall. It is probably a good idea in his part.

Oh yeah! I forgot about that. I let Clay drag me down the hall, Nico and I yelling back and forth the entire time. I only stop when we turn the corner.

"Do you two always fight like that?" Clay asks, panting slightly.

I nod, but don't look at him. I'm still a little confused about what that kiss was and his weird behavior afterwards. "Most of the time."

Clay sighs with relief. "Great, great."

I walk away from him and go into the nurses office first. As soon as I cross the doorway I feel a chill run down my back, like a ghostly hand on my spine. Nurse Medusa is at the computer typing away. She's wearing a long white doctors coat over a long black dress. She turns to us when she hears us enter. "How can I help you?" She asks, smiling kindly. I can't help but notice her strange hairstyle. It's pale green, short in the back and there's a long braid under her chin. Her eyes are the same color, and slightly slitted. There's something chilling about her eyes, animalistic. There's something chilling about her in general.

"There was a fight by the freshman orientation room. Two students got hurt, a Weapon and his Meister." Clay states.

"Oh dear, another fight? That's the fourth one today." She sighs. "Well, I suppose it is that kind of school." Nurse Medusa gets up from her chair and goes to the cabinet. She rummages through it for a moment, pulling out bandages and 3 bottles of pills. She throws them into a leather bag and turns back to us. "Is there anything else you two need?"

I immediately feel uncomfortable under her stare. She looks at me like a predator watching its prey, waiting for the right time to strike. I don't like being someones, or something's prey. "No, nothing else. We're about to leave, right Clay?"

He shrugs. "Yeah, I guess."

I grab his arm, and before Nurse Medusa can answer I tug him out the door. I don't stop until we're back down the hall and around the corner.

"What was that about?" Clay asks as I let go of his arm. He rubs it like it's sore or something.

I give Clay a long look. Should I tell him? I barely know him, but we did just experience a very passionate moment, thought that doesn't seem to matter to him. And he is the only person with me right now. Eh, I might as well Tell him. It's not like it's some big secret or something. "Nurse Medusa...she makes me uncomfortable. It's like there's something off about her." I say.

He raises an eyebrow. "Nurse Medusa?" A teasing look spreads across his face. "Are you sure it's not because your intimidated? I mean she is very good-looking."

He has to be kidding me! I couldn't be worried less about her appearance. It's her aura that has me disturbed. "It takes a lot more than a nice pair of boobs and a pretty face to intimidate me." I assure.

He scoffs. "Sure it does."

I feel myself starting to get annoyed with him. "Says the one who got his ass kicked by a girl." I snap.

Now it's his turn to get upset. "W-what? I already explained that! You took me by surprise!" He exclaims.

I try to suppress the reluctant smile that is trying to spread across my face. His reactions are too funny. He just gets so defensive and flustered. "Whatever you say, Clay."

He gives me a look, but doesn't say anything. I guess he decided there was no hope in trying to change my mind about what happened. He's right. Instead the two of us walk down the hall in silence, a slightly awkward one at that. The unspoken kiss is hanging in the air between us, but neither of us reach out for it. Why did he do it? What does it mean? Why did he act like that after it? Will there be more where that came from? I gently touch my fingers to my lips as it flashes through my min. They're still warm. My stomach turns again, in a good way. I sigh. There are too many thoughts buzzing through my head with no outside conversation to keep them at bay and attract my focus. It's so frustrating.

"Hey, Clay." I finally say, unable to keep quite anymore. He looks over at me and I'm tempted to shoot a barrage of kiss related questions at him, but I don't. Instead I give him a hard shove that sends him barreling into the wall, arms flying about.

"What was that about?" He asks in surprise. His eyes wide as he slumps against the wall. If only I had a camera to capture that reaction.

I grin at him, pushing away all the confusion and irritation. "Race you!" I exclaim, and take off down the hall. I hear him grunt and struggle to get up, and then his feet are pounding heavily after mine.

And the race is on.

* * *

I worked really hard on this chapter, so review and tell me what you thought! Thanks for reading!


	6. Memories

My sixth chapter! I'm super excited. I don't think I've ever written something for this long. Usually I get distracted or bored. Anyways, enjoy! ^_^

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"Ellis? Are you back yet?" I call as I open the front door to our cozy apartment. As much as I hate to admit it, Clay beat me in the race back to class. It's weird that he knows his way around that school better than I do considering this is supposed to be his first years the DWMA. Maybe he just has a good sense of direction? When we got to the class everyone else was gone, so we looked around for a bit before deciding to part ways and head home.

"I am in here." Ellis calls back. I walk into the kitchen only to find him searching through the fridge for something. "We are out of apples." He states as he looks up. I immediately notice there is something off about him, a certain tenseness in his shoulders and around his eyes.

I throw my bag on the table, trying to act like I don't notice. If he wants to talk I know he will without me prying. He's good at saying what he wants to say. "Already? I just bought some yesterday." Our allowance, admittedly a lot more than I got at home, only gets us so much food before it runs out. Not to mention we have to pay rent too.

"Yes, already." He goes back into the hall and I follow him. "Nico and Sanders were here when I got home, so I am assuming it was they're doing 0END.0."

My annoyance flares up at the mention of them. "Of course, it's always those idiots. Do you want me to go and get some?" I ask. I'm a little tired and I just got back, but it's a nice day so I won't mind going out again. I like going for walks. I think they're relaxing.

He shakes his head as he slips his shoes on. "No. You have no taste in produce. You always get the ones with the spots. I'll go."

I ignore his insult to my 'taste in produce' because I know he didn't actually mean for it to be an insult. He never means it, usually never. He's just being honest. "Okay. I'll go see Marvel and Thisbe while your gone then. Is it cool if I invite them over for dinner?"

"Them coming over will have no effect on the temperature." He doesn't look up as he says it. He's too busy tying his shoes.

I face palm. Oh, Ellis. "I was using an expression. I meant is it okay with you if I invite them?"

"Yes, it is fine." He stands up and straightens his shirt. "I will make a note of that expression for next time."

I lean against the wall as I snicker at response. His seriousness is so funny sometimes. Ellis turns towards me and I notice his collar is messed up. The left side of it is smushed down while the other side is still standing straight up. "Hold on," I use both of my hands to quickly straighten it up for him.

Ellis grabs my wrist suddenly. I tense from the surprise, and I tense even more when he rolls up my sleeve, and flips over my right wrist to see the jagged pink scars that mar it. He uses his other hand and gently runs his fingers across them, sending a chill up my spine. He always does that, and although his face is blank I can see a pained emotion in his eyes. I know he's remembering the day I got those scars. The day when our closest comrades were killed so brutally. He was cut up to the point where he almost died from blood loss, and I'll never forgive myself for letting him get that hurt, even if it was because he physically wouldn't let me transform back. He used his soul wavelength to keep me in my weapon state. I had to wait until he was knocked unconscious, but by that time Pixie and Cyan were already dead. Sid and Nygus came to our rescue along with Dr. Stein. Although I could barely stay awake, Dr. Stein got me to fight with him as his Weapon until we managed to escape. We never would have made it if it wasn't for them, but I would have gladly died if it meant saving Ellis. He knows it too. The whole experience still haunts me, and as much as he tries to hide it I know it haunts Ellis too.

"It's alright." I assure. I didn't say it just because of the physical pain we went through, but for the emotional pain too. "They healed a long time ago."

He stares down at the scars sadly. I know that's not the only thing upsetting him. "They should have never happened in the first place." He says, voice soft.

"Hey," I press my free hand to his cheek and tilt his head back so our eyes meet "I'm fine, okay? It's going to take a lot more than just one nasty Witch to keep me down."

He knits his fingers through mine and the gesture makes me smile. I have always loved this side of Ellis. The softer, more open side. He only shows it to me so it means a lot when I get to see it. But lately it's been showing a lot more than usual, and it worries me. "I know that, but I worry about you sometimes. I know wishes don't come true, so it's irrational for me to wish I could keep an eye on you and keep you safe all the time, but I still find myself doing it."

My heart swells at his confession. "It's because you care, Ellis. It's only natural for someone to wish to protect the people they care about."

He looks like he wants to say something. Instead he looks down at his feet. "Natural...yes, I suppose it is."

"Okay, what is it this time?" I ask with a sigh. I told myself I wasn't going to ask, but this is too off even for him. It's like he isn't even the same person. A softer, more sympathetic identical twin maybe. "What's bothering you?"

Ellis looks up, surprised for a moment before wiping his face clean of any emotion again. It's like he's shutting down right in front of me. "There is nothing bothering me."

I scoff. "That's a complete lie and you know it. You've been acting weird all week and it's seriously starting to worry me, Ellis. We're suppose to be partners, and that means telling each other when something's wrong."

The look Ellis gives me is long and considering. I can see the battle raging inside of him. "There is nothing bothering me." He repeats. "Like you said, it is natural for me to wish to protect you because I care about you. That is all."

I look away, upset. My eyes behind to sting. He's lying straight to my face. Why won't Ellis tell me what's wrong? "Fine. If you don't want to talk about it then we won't right know." I slip on my shoes. If I don't get out of here I know I'll just cause a giant fight between us trying to get him to tell me. "I'm going to Thisbe's and Marvel's. I'll see you later." I say as I pull myself from his grasp.

"Be careful." Ellis says. His pleading voice makes me pause at the door and look back at him, but by then his expression is back to nothingness.

I nod. "I will."

—

When I get to the girls dorm Kana Altair, a young girl with white hair and pink eyes, is sitting in her usual place on the couch. She has on an orange elbow-length cloak with a large cat ear adorned hood that she constantly keeps drawn over her head, a white shirt and puffy pink shorts over dark purple tights and brown boots. Her eyes remind me a lot of Ellis in their dullness. I bite my lip. I don't want to think about Ellis right now.

"Hey, Kana. Are Thisbe and Marvel here?" I ask.

She holds up one of her tarot cards. "The X." She says. X marks the spot, huh? I'm going to take that as a yes.

"Thanks." I call over my shoulder as I exit the room. I make my way through the rooms of the large, expensively decorated girl's dorm to the main stair case. Luckily for me whoever designed the DWMA didn't get their hands on these stairs too. If they did, I don't think I could make it. I've been to this dorm so many times I know the place like the back of my hand, I even lived here for a few months. The only reason I don't live in the girl's dorm anymore is because my partner is a guy and the DWMA encourages Weapon-Meister pairs to live together. They say it promotes teamwork, and if you can't live with your partner successfully, what makes you think you can put your life in their hands and have it turn out successfully? Living with someone is the greatest test of compatibility and if it fails then the pair will ultimately fail.

When I get to the room I don't bother knocking, I never do. The three of us were roommates at one point, so they're use to having me just barge in. "Hey," I say as I enter. Zen music floats from the CD player and echoes throughout the room. It's probably why Thisbe is asleep and snoring loudly on her bed.

Marvel is sitting in a chair by the window and looks up from her pencil sketch of Death City as I make my way into the room. She's an amazing artist and has been working on that drawing for almost three weeks. I go stand by her and lean in to look at her art. "It looks really good Marv." I say. "I'm impressed."

She smiles at me as she stands. "Well, I worked really hard on it, so I would hope you would be impressed." She moves to the CD player and flicks it off.

As soon as she does Thisbe jumps off the bed. "What happened? Why happened? Who happened? Where happened?" She grabs my shoulders and shakes me violently, making my head bounce back and forth. "TELL ME!"

"Down girl," I grab her face between my hands the way I usually do when she freaks out and she slowly stops shaking me. "You just fell asleep."

Thisbe blinks at me in confusion. "I fell asleep?" She laughs. "Oh, yeah! I forgot about that!"

I smile at her, entertained with her forgetfulness. "Of course you did."

Marvel smiles as she looks from me to Thisbe. "Well, what brings you to our dorm, Cardi?" She asks. "We haven't seen you in forever and now all of a sudden you start coming around again?"

I sigh as I plop down on the bed next to Thisbe. After Pixie...I shut everyone but Ellis out to keep myself safe, and I'm realizing that wasn't the best idea. All it did was take away the people I could go to for support and make me feel even more alone. I have only recently started reconnecting with people. "Yeah, I know it sounds bad. I'm sorry I've avoided you guys so much lately, it's just... I was having a hard time with everything that happened, you know?" I pause for a moment to gather my thoughts and push away the memories. "I didn't realize it at first, heck, I didn't realize it until I saw you guys earlier, but I really miss us all being together. Some of my best memories happened with you two, the guys too of course. I guess what I'm trying to say is...I really want to start hanging out again, if you aren't too mad at me for going AWOL?"

Thisbe immediately pulls me into a crushing hug, mushing my cheek against hers. "Of course we aren't mad at you, Cardinal! We were sad because we couldn't help our friend, but not mad. We missed you too!"

I can feel tears well up in my eyes at Thisbe's acceptance. I didn't realize how much I needed to hear that. I look up at Marvel for her answer. She smiles down at me. "It'll be hard for me to say no to you with those tears."

Thisbe squeals and pulls her into the hug too. I grin widely and the tears in my eyes start to flow forth. The three of us just hug and laugh with each other for what feels like forever. It feels so good to be back with them. They're like family to me. They are family to me. And gosh, I missed them.

When we separate Thisbe looks at me in confusion. "Cardinal? Why are you crying?" She asks.

I laugh and start to wipe the salty wetness from my face. "Because I'm happy." I assure.

Thisbe slips one of her arms through mine and tugs me off the bed. She starts leading me out of the room. "Come on, Cardinal."

"Where are we going?" I ask. Hopefully they won't try to play some sort of welcome back prank on me. With Marvel around that's the most likely scenario, and Thisbe usually goes along with it.

"To the kitchen. I think this calls for some ice cream." Marvel suggests. "A sundae maybe?"

"I could really go for one of those right now." I agree enthusiastically. I'm all for ice cream anytime any place. "Let's do it!"

The three of us make our way to the kitchen, arms linked together just like the old days. I walk in the middle, Thisbe on my left and Marvel on my right. It makes me never want to let go of them ever again. When we're almost there I start to tug the two of them so we go faster. We enter the expensive kitchen and I go to get bowls before making myself at home at the island table in the middle of the room. Marvel goes to get the ice cream from the freezer, three different cartons with three different flavors, vanilla, chocolate and strawberry, and Thisbe goes to get the spoons.

Marvel sets them on the table and pulls the lid off of the vanilla before she sticks a finger in. She scoops up a chunk and sticks it into her mouth, tasting it. Thisbe follows her lead with the strawberry. "Mmmmm, it's so good!" Thisbe exclaims.

"Is it?" I ask. I open up the chocolate carton and stick my spoon into it and take out a large chunk. I would use my finger but this way I get more. The chocolate slides down my throat in a cold line and a grin spreads across my face. Oh wow. "Oh my gosh it is good! Where did you two get this?"

"We got it in Pennsylvania on our mission two days ago. It came fresh from a little ice cream place with a cow farm right next door." Marvel says. She takes another finger-full of ice cream. "You should have seen the people's faces when we walked in all dirty and covered in bruises from the fight. It was priceless."

"Oh, yeah?" I ask. I hear soft footsteps approaching the kitchen and shift my eyes over to the entrance. I sometimes forget other girls live in this building. Most of them don't really come around that often. It's like they're ghosts or something.

"Do you hear that?" Thisbe asks a few seconds after I hear it. A spoon is hanging forgetfully out of her mouth. It's a funny sight to see.

"The freshmen are moving in today. Eternal Feather told me this morning." Marvel assures her. Her closed eyes don't even shift over to the door as Eternal Feathers voice floats into the room.

"The kitchen is also a common area. Please feel free to use whatever is here." Eternal Feather, a older girl with long back hair that's braided in two low pigtails, red glasses, and a ankle length blue dress, along the three girls from freshman orientation enter the room. The blonde girl completely ignores us and goes to the china cabinet. She scans the cups and plates through the window with a disappointed look.

"Hey, EF." I greet.

Eternal Feather waves at me. "Cardinal, it's been a while. Marvel, Thisbe. It's good to see you two."

Tsugumi looks surprised when she sees me. "Cardinal! What are you doing here?" She asks.

"I'm visiting." I gesture to Marvel and Thisbe with my head. Tsugumi looks around the kitchen warily before she sets her eyes on them both. "How about you?"

"I'm going to be living here from now on." Tsugumi says. She moves towards us and extends her hand to Thisbe and Marvel. "I'm Tsugumi Harudori."

Thisbe jumps up with an eager smile and grabs Tsugumi's hand in between hers. "Hi Tsugumi! I'm Thisbe. Thisbe Meown."

Tsugumi smiles back, but she seems preoccupied with something. "Hi, Thisbe. It's nice to meet you."

"You too. That's my weapon partner," Thisbe gestures to Marvel, who is putting away her carton of vanilla ice cream. "Marvel Quiver. She's pretty cool!"

"I think the two of us will get along just fine." Marvel says as she comes back to stand with our group. "NOT or EAT class?"

"That's a good question." The orange haired girl says. "Tsugumi, what class are we in again?"

Tsugumi chuckles awkwardly. "We're in NOT, Meme. Oh, Meme this is Cardinal Goldwing. Cardinal, this is Meme Tatane."

It takes a few more minutes, but eventually everyone gets introduced to everyone, everyone but the blonde. She continues to stand by the cabinet, but she keeps looking back over her shoulder at us when she thinks no one is paying attention. "Who's that?" I ask Tsugumi quietly.

Tsugumi looks over at where I'm looking. "Oh yeah! Anya! Come say hi!" She calls.

Anya scoffs and mutters something about commoners, but she introduces herself to us anyways. I could tell right off the bat she's from a very wealthy family, it's even more obvious now that I've talked to her. She has a very formal way of talking, and the large sapphire broach on her dress practically screams high-class.

Someone pressing into my side makes me look over. Tsugumi is crouching next to me, eyes scanning the room. "Uh, is there something wrong Tsugumi?" I ask. She's been acting wary ever since she came in here.

She jumps up in embarrassment. "Oh. I was just wondering where the witch is–" I silently wonder why Ellis can't be open like that. She screams as a hand touches one of her pigtails and hides behind Meme.

I hear Marvel chuckle and shake my head in amusement. Freshmen.

"I'm sorry." Miss Misery apologizes with a smile. "Your hair is just so perfect I couldn't help myself."

"This is the dorm's housemaster." Eternal Feather gestures to her with her hand. "Miss Misery."

Miss Misery nods at the two girls. "I'm always in the housemaster's room on the first floor, so if anything comes up, feel free to come see me."

Meme, surprisingly, moves up to say hello first. "I'm Meme Tatane. It's nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine."

Tsugumi goes next, albeit a little more nervously. "I'm Tsugumi Harudori, and I'll be placing myself in your good graces."

Miss Misery's face darkens and I feel myself instinctively tense. Oh no. Not again. She always does that when she sees a girl that looks like...Mary. Poor Tsugumi. She's going to have a rough first couple of days no doubt.

"Okay, it's time for me to show you all to your room." Eternal Feather announces.

"See you guys around." I say. Thisbe and Marvel echo my goodbye.

Meme and Anya make their way to the exit with Meme actually going through. Anya stops at the doorway and looks over her shoulder at Tsugumi, who hasn't moved from her spot since she introduced herself to Miss Misery. It's like she's glued in place. "Miss Tsugumi, we're going.

"R-right." Tsugumi stutters out. She makes her way around Miss Misery, staying as far away from her as she can manage before bolting out of the room.

"I've found you...Mary." Miss Misery whispers sinisterly. With those four word she too leaves the kitchen.

The three of us exchange similar looks. "That isn't going to end well for Tsugumi." Marvel says.

I scoff. "That's an understatement. Remember when she tried to get you, Thisbe? Must be something about girls with pigtails that gets her going."

Thisbe shivers dramatically. "I'd rather not think about that."

Marvel and I burst out into laughter as we remember what happened. Thisbe is less amused. Miss Misery had her tied to her chair where she fell asleep that night. Thisbe accidentally knocked it over in the struggle and broke three of Miss Misery's toes. After that the Headmistress stopped messing with Thisbe. I still remember waking up to find her tied to that chair all frazzled and scared out of her mind. I honestly thought I was still sleeping.

"So, how about you tell is the real reason you came over here today." Marvel suddenly says.

I look up at her in surprise. "The real reason? I told you already. I wanted to see you two."

Marvel picks up our bowls and puts them in the sink. "That might be part of it, but that's not the full reason. Come on, Cardi. We know you. There's something else bothering you."

I sigh. Sometimes I forget how well they can read me, not that I'm hard to read. My emotions are always written all over my face. I wear my heart on my sleeve, as some people say. "It's Ellis."

"Ellis?" Thisbe asks. "What about him? He didn't find out about your boyfriend did he?"

"He's not my boyfriend." I say with a roll of my eyes. "And even if he did it wouldn't matter. I don't keep secrets from him." But apparently he does from me.

Marvel raises an eyebrow. "Then what is it?"

What is it indeed. "He's been acting weird lately. Really weird. Around other people he's his usual dull self, but around me...it's like he isn't the same person when we're alone. I mean he does have a soft spot for because I'm his partner, but this is something totally different. Today he almost cried. He almost cried tears of sadness. Ellis doesn't cry tears of sadness. Ever."

"Maybe he's decide to turn over a new leaf and show some compassion." Marvel suggests.

I shake my head, trying to explain it in a way they would understand. "No. This isn't anything like that. There's something seriously bothering him and he won't tell me what it is." I look up at them only to get somewhat confused looks back. I groan in frustration. "Marvel, what if Thisbe suddenly started being all glum and stuff, you'd be worried right?"

Marvel leans back and crosses her arms over her stomach. "Of course I would."

I nod. Now they're getting it. "And Thisbe, what if Marvel suddenly started cracking skulls?"

Thisbe's eyes widen. "I'd be really worried."

I cover my face with my hands. "Well that's exactly how I feel. And to make matters worse he's completely shutting me out."

Thisbe grabs one of my hands. "You just need to give him some time to get it together. He's Ellis. He'll tell you when he's ready."

I nod. You wouldn't expect it, but despite her childishness, Thisbe can give surprisingly good advice. "Yeah, you're right. I'm just worried about him."

"That's to be expected, but he'll be fine." Marvel insists. "Ellis is a lot more capable than any of us."

I look away from the two of them. Physically that is true, but emotionally Ellis is at the level of a five-year old. He doesn't know how to cope with things like grief and sadness, so he chooses not to feel at all.

But they wouldn't know that.

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Well, what did you think? Be sure to leave a review please! ^_^


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